There was a time when I’d eat up any new DC Comics cinematic property on the big or small screen. Come to think of it, that time was as recent as two months ago, actually. But Man of Steel left such a bad taste in my mouth (after thinking more about it, I like Zach Snyder’s film even less than I originally thought) that it detracted me from comics and superhero fare for a while. After that, and partially because of my relative unfamiliarity with The Flash, I approached Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, the latest direct-to-video DC Universe Animated Original Movie, with less zeal than usual. But the film was like a refreshing rinse of mouthwash.
Okay, that’s probably the worst analogy I ever thought of. But my point is, this movie is very good, and reminded me why I love these comic books.
The picture opens with a flashback to the murder of the mother of the Flash’s alter-ego Barry Allen (Justin Chambers) during his childhood, an event that haunts the hero. But one day, he inexplicably wakes up in an alternate reality where his mother is alive. He also learns that in this timeline, he’s only Barry Allen, and The Flash doesn’t exist. But other members of the Justice League do, and the world faces certain destruction due to war between Aquaman’s (Cary Elwes) kingdom of Atlantis and Wonder Woman (Vanessa Marshall) and her race of Amazons. Allen teams up with Batman (Kevin McKidd), in this reality Bruce Wayne’s father and a more brutal vigilante, to regain his powers, find out how this reality came about, and change the timeline back to how it should be.
It’s an adaptation of 2011’s “Flashpoint” story arc, a major crossover than spanned many titles and set up DC’s New 52 reboot. The way it establishes the new universe is convoluted and complicated for those who don’t follow each character closely, so the movie simplifies things by removing the rebooting element and making it a self-contained alternate universe story. But sometimes, just a good standalone tale without any major implications is enough. While the weight and significance of its comics counterpart doesn’t make it to the screen, the main narrative survives and works quite well. Avid readers should be pleased with the translation, while viewers with only a rudimentary knowledge of the characters can still follow.
DC’s many animated works have such a sterling reputation because they offer only the best animation, storytelling, and voice talent. This feature is no exception, but everything seems especially good this time. This, I think, is because it does everything very well, but also, it gets very right what Man of Steel did quite wrong. There’s beautiful animation and imagery and some creative and imaginative sequences, all of which are much more of a pleasure to look at than just the dark, dull colors and vanilla effects of MoS. There’s plenty of exciting action, and it’s all well-planned and executed (drawn?), not loud, messy, and disjointed. The story contains some darkness (and considerable violence; the amount of blood that’s shed might warrant an R for a live-action picture instead of its PG-13), but there’s still a sense of fun, not just solemn and humorless gloom.
The only complaint is a recurring one that all these adaptations share, which is that it’s too short and has to sacrifice some elements of the comics. That especially applies here; “Flashpoint” had enough side-stories featuring its versions of the DC characters to fill a whole season of one of the Justice League animated series. Many of these intriguing plot turns are reduced to mere hints in passing. But watching the movie, I wasn’t wishing it was longer as much as I was wishing it was a real, live-action movie. Some of the epic battles featuring dozens of DC heroes and villains (not necessarily on the same side as their regular counterparts) could be awesome in the hands of the right director, and the partial-3D sequences depicting The Flash in action might look even cooler with a flesh and blood actor.
But enough with my fanboy musings about what I wish were so. What is so is that this is a quality film as it stands, one of the better animated movies DC has offered. And it has rekindled my hope and optimism for that much discussed but still unclear Justice League picture, as well as given me some for any live action version of The Flash that they might make one day.
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